1. Field of the Invention
A powered lawnmower of the type particularly adapted for mowing greens on golf courses, characterized by a driving roller and a cutting reel drive.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
Various prior lawnmowers have been based upon the concept of using a separate roller to raise up grass, prior to entry into a cutter reel mechanism. Prior art techniques for improving the cutting action of rotary reel type lawnmowers are represented by the patents, as follows:
______________________________________ CURTIS, C. H. et al. 594,067 FAULKNER, W. P. 1,163,745 GOODFELLOW, A. 1,379,555 POL, J. B. 1,757,844 MILLER, J. J. 2,085,113 GEORGE 2,209,309 COUR C. J. 2,476,084 ELLSWORTH, I. W. 2,912,813 BARRACLOUGH, H. GB 256,352 FIDDLER, J. et al. GB 536,568 ______________________________________
The present invention teaches improvement in a powered lawnmower of the type comprising a transversely extending cutting reel and bed knife assembly carried by a frame, wherein the cutter reel has a transversely extending drive roller behind the cutter reel, a transversely extending front roller and a lawn conditioning device, in front of the cutter reel. Prior art devices have recognized that lifting of the grass, prior to entry into the cutter reel, ensures a higher quality cut, and various techniques to raise downtrodden grass are illustrated by the above-listed references.
However, the present invention additionally provides a powered lawn conditioning apparatus which is easily changed between a brush or a thatching mechanism, with very fine vertical adjustment of this conditioning roller possible through a pivoting, enclosed gear train assembly driven from the cutting reel. Prior art devices do not exhibit an adjustable and replaceable assembly which is so driven, and the prior art attempts also have not appreciated that exact vertical adjustments can be ensured by the relative positions of both a front roller and a powered conditioning roller, which might be a brush or thatching reel. The following, additional comments are offered with respect to each of these references, to assist an appreciation of the areas of improvement, hereinafter identified.
CURTIS et al. disclose a sickle bar-type mowing machine, wherein a cylindrical brush is mounted above a reciprocating set of rotary cutter blades, thereby to urge grass into the cutter blades and also clear clippings from the blades.
FAULKNER illustrates a sickle bar attachment device for a manual lawnmower, wherein a helical brush performs a grass raising function, prior to the reciprocating cutter bar.
GOODFELLOW illustrates another manual lawnmower attachment, wherein a brush is employed to revolve in a direction opposite to the direction of movement of the mower, thereby to sweep grass forward and upward, ahead of mower cutting blades. GOODFELLOW employs a one-way ratchet drive mechanism, and does not allow for a fine vertical adjustment of the brush.
POL teaches a stationary broom attachment, ahead of cutter blades, for the purpose of elevating grass prior to entry into the blade mechanism. POL represents a prior art device also configured especially for golf green or tee grasses, such as creeping bent, but with a structure unrelated to the approach taken in the present invention.
MILLER, like GOODFELLOW, teaches a non-adjustable rotary rake, driven from a set of mower wheels, for the purpose of lifting matted grass, prior to entry and cutting by a cutter wheel.
GEORGE illustrates a reel-type powered lawnmower having a set of brushes to lift only grass which is matted down by spaced apart, front support casters. GEORGE teaches brushes which rotate in the same direction as the cutter wheel, to bend grass back after having been compressed by separate front rollers. The brushes in GEORGE also are taught to rotate opposite to the direction preferred by MILLER and the present invention, though both senses of rotation are intended to accomplish the same lifting result.
The patents to COUR and ELLSWORTH illustrate soil aerating devices in broad combination with a lawnmower, though these devices are used to replace a rear or trailing roller. Neither COOR nor ELLSWORTH recognize a technique for brushing or thatching grass prior to its entry into a cutter reel.
The two Great Britain patents, in the names of BARRACLOUGH and FIDDLER et al., teach similar operations, though with slightly different embodiments. Each Great Britain patent illustrates a roller chain-driven brush which is configured to lift grass prior to it engaging a cutter bar. BARRACLOUGH illustrates one technique to adjust the position of the brush through a set screw (FIG. 2), and a brush driven in the same direction as the knife, though at an increased speed to throw soil and cut grass away from the area of the rollers. BARRACLOUGH, like GEORGE, employs two outboard rollers and does not perform a general raising function upon the grass. The FIDDLER et al. brush device is mounted upon a pair of adjustable plates, below the cutter bar and a front roller assembly, and the brush is driven in the same rotational direction as the wheels and the cutter bar.
In summary, the prior art generally recognizes that a lawn conditioning mechanism could be located between a front or leading roller and a rotating cutter wheel, to raise grass up prior to cutting. None of the prior art devices provides for the adjustment of both a front roller and a powered front lawn conditioning roller, that is driven through a pivotable, enclosed gear train which precludes misalignments and hazards common to exposed roller chains, for example.